CS99D - Light and Shadow

This page contains the images I took for Paper #3 for CS99D, taught
in Italy during Winter Quarter, 1999. To view a high resolution version
of any image, click on its thumbnail.

Still Water Reflections

These all illustrate examples, from the text, of different window
reflections.

These images represent the mirror-like qualities of
a still body of water. A puddle reflects a clear image of the buildings
around it. The grazing angle at which the water is viewed makes water reflect off the surface, and the image is relatively undistorted because the surface is
approximately planar.

Window Reflections

Here we see images reflected off a window. Due to the dielectric nature
of glass, the relfection is the color of the light source, rather than the color of the window itself. Not the distorted image in the picture on the right,
this is due to the non-planar glass surface.

Projected Window Reflections

Light reflecting off a window illuminates an otherwise dark surface.

Shadow of the Sun

In this image, a shadow of the sun is projected onto a building
perpendicular to the building that is creating the shadow. On the left of
the image, when the shadow is cast for a short distance, the shadow appears
sharp. On the right of the image where the shadow is cast onto a more
distant part of the wall, the image is fuzzier.

Moving Water Reflections

Notice how the disturbances in the water surface warp reflections as seen on the surface of the water. The specular highlight from the car hood in the middle top photo appears stretched out. Look for reflections of buildings that are non continuous, or broken up into small ellipsoids. In particular, the relfection of the tower in the lower left image that appears under the bridge as a series of vertical donut ellipses. In photos with stiller water, the reflection looks less warped.

Sunlight through trees

Notice the shape of the patches of light that are let through a dense collection of leaves.

Reflection of a Camera Lens

While changing my film in a courtyard, I noticed the distorted reflection of the surrounding courtyard as seen on the surface of the lens inside my camera. These pictures didn't come out perfectly, but they serve as examples of distorted relfections.